“You pride yourself on being the king of the innuendo, don’t you?” Olivia said, exercising great restraint to resist adding another layer to his insinuation. The chemistry between them begged her to keep the banter going, to tell him she was all about method acting and she was at his service for any research he needed in order to deliver a convincing performance.
Actually, her body was all in for the research, but her brain knew better. They needed to keep this strictly aboveboard.
“That’s the thing about innuendo,” he said. “You can interpret it however you choose.”
“Okay, since you put it that way, I’d love an Oscar-winning performance, but we need to keep this act strictly PG.”
He frowned. “That’s disappointing. I was thinking an R-rated production would be so much more convincing.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Romeo, but let’s not get carried away. Need I remind you that while this show we’re about to put on is a limited engagement, we’ll still have to stage a breakup and coexist at future family functions.”
He frowned.
“It’s not like we’ll have to sit across the dinner table from each other every Sunday,” he said.
“True.”
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Was it fair to ask a guy she barely knew to pretend to be her lover? To play the part convincingly without giving him all access? For a fleeting moment, she let herself go there. What if for one careless week she allowed herself to go off the rails and immerse herself in the part—onstage and off?
“What are you getting at, Alejandro? Do you expect me to sleep with you?”
After she set the words free, released them from the cage in her mind, the prospect of letting go like that was petrifying. She might not believe in love, but she did believe in feelings. And feelings, when you allowed them to meander unchecked, made you susceptible to hurt.
No. If there was ever a time that she needed to stay completely in control it was now. This was about Sophie. It wasn’t about her. It was a means to an end to fix what she had nearly broken.
“You make it sound so romantic,” Alejandro said.
When she didn’t jab back, he seemed to ease up. “It’s clear that’s not what you want. So, no, I don’t expect you to sleep with me. I would never use sex as a bartering chip. Don’t worry, Olivia. You’re safe with me.”
She should’ve been relieved, but the most primitive part of her was disappointed that sex was off the table. But she reminded herself that she needed to set the ground rules up front and they needed to stick to them. For their own good. Hadn’t the Sophie disaster been enough of a cautionary tale of what happened when she got careless?
“That’s good to know,” she said. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
He nodded, but things still felt off-kilter. Before they left this room, she needed to make sure everything was as right as it could be.
“Please know that I do appreciate you helping me,” she said. “It’s good of you, Alejandro. I realize you don’t have to do this. I mean, Sophie is my sister. I’m the one who opened my big mouth and set everything spinning out of control.”
Olivia clamped her mouth shut. She was talking too much. She always did when she felt out of control. Obviously she needed to admit to herself that Alejandro Mendoza made her feel that way. Yes, just acknowledge it—look the problem in the eye, stare it down—and move on.
She locked gazes with him. Looked deep into those brown eyes, straight into the lighter brown and golden flecks that she hadn’t noticed before. He was the first one to blink, breaking the trance, but she still didn’t feel any more in control than before she’d tried to stare down the dragon. She needed to try another tactic.
“Even though I’m appreciative and I shouldn’t question your motives, I’m wondering why you would do this for me.”
There. She’d said it. And it needed to be said.
He was frowning at her again. Not an affected frown this time, but a genuine look of consternation. Still, she was glad she’d said it. Knowing what he was expecting in return for helping her might put things on a bit more of a level playing field.
“What’s in this for me.” It wasn’t a question. The way he repeated her words was more like he was turning them around, looking at them from all angles. “What’s in this for me. I don’t know, Olivia. Should I expect personal gain? Because I wasn’t, other than maybe the satisfaction of helping you out.”
“Look, Alejandro, I didn’t mean that in the way you seem to be taking it. I just wanted to make sure we’re both laying all our cards on the table before we go any further.”
“Is everything a business venture to you? I get the feeling you’re about to whip out a contract for me to sign.”
She wished it was that easy. For a terrifying moment, she feared that her plan was a mistake.
She stood. “I’m sorry. Let’s just forget about this whole thing and proceed with business as usual between us. It’s not you...it was a bad idea.”
He reached out and took her hand, tugging her gently to get her to sit back down. And, of course, she did. Because it was clear that her better judgment, which was telling her to run away and save herself, went belly up when Alejandro did so much as breathe near her. With this man she felt totally out of control. And it was petrifying.
“I hate to be the voice of reality, but after that show we put on before the toast, people are going to have questions. And even though I don’t know your sister very well, if everything you said is true—and I have no reason to believe it’s not—do you think it will restore Sophie’s faith if word gets back to her that it’s ‘business as usual’ between us again?”
The guy was more insightful than she’d given him credit for. And he was absolutely right. Sophie would be completely disheartened, and with good reason. There was no backing out now unless she wanted to put the final nail in the coffin on Sophie’s desire to marry.
“You’re right,” she told him. “You’re a good man to allow me to drag you into this, Alejandro. I promise I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He reached out and took her hand. Only this time it felt different. Not as dangerous, even though the butterflies in her stomach still flew in formation.
“Shall we go back to the party? I think we have some explaining to do.”
He smiled. “Let the show begin.”
* * *
Olivia should’ve known she wouldn’t be able to fool her sisters. She shouldn’t have even tried. But even though they’d gone along with the charade at the party, pretending to be just as surprised and convinced as everyone else by her love affair with Alejandro, Zoe and Rachel had shown up at her condo early the next morning with a box of doughnuts and plenty of questions.
She’d spilled the beans within the first five minutes.
“So we weren’t convincing?” Olivia asked as she put the kettle on to boil water for coffee in the French press. “Please, at least tell me we weren’t painfully obvious.”
“You were absolutely convincing to the untrained eye,” Rachel said as she took down coffee mugs from the cabinet above the stove. “You should know better than to try to pull one over on Zoe and me. Why didn’t you tell us about the plan from the start?”
Olivia turned toward her sisters and braced the small of her back against the edge of the counter.
“I didn’t have a plan per se. In fact, when I saw that Sophie hadn’t snapped out of her funk by last night, I was in full panic mode. She missed the brunch and then the dinner where she was supposed to welcome her guests. It was starting to feel like something more than cold feet. I’m afraid if it goes on much longer, Mason won’t be able to keep up her flu cover-up. Either that, or he’s going to lose his patience. I mean, how would you all feel if your husbands had ditched the wedding events and told you they weren’t sure they wanted to marry you less than a week before the wedding?”
Her sisters nodded in agreement.
“Thank goodness Mason is a very patient man,” said Rachel. “So what are you planning to do? Are you counting on word of your affair with Alejandro magically getting back to Sophie? Or do you have a plan?”
Olivia bought herself some time by grinding the coffee beans she had measured out. It only took a few seconds, but by the time she’d finished, both of her sisters were staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.
“I definitely want to be proactive,” Olivia said. “There’s not enough time to leave matters up to chance. However, before I can do anything I need to figure out where she is. I haven’t talked to her since Sunday. Have either of you heard from her?”
Olivia already knew the answer to that question. Because of course her sisters would’ve rushed to her the minute they had learned Sophie’s whereabouts. No, this was a code red situation. And they needed to do something to avert a major catastrophe. Since the three of them were together and would soon be fortified by doughnuts, she was confident they’d come up with something.
Zoe cleared her throat as if she had something to say. That’s when it dawned on Olivia that her sister had been uncharacteristically quiet as she and Rachel had been mulling over the situation.
“I know where Sophie is,” Zoe said.
The tea kettle whistled as if punctuating Olivia’s agitation.
“What? Where is she?” Olivia demanded as she took the kettle off the flame.
Zoe stood there silently, looking away from her sisters.
“You’ve been standing here all this time harboring this information?” Rachel said. “Are you going to make us pry it out of you, or are you going to tell us?”
Zoe shot daggers at Rachel. “She asked me not to tell.”
“Honey, this is not an ordinary situation,” Olivia said. “You’re not betraying her trust by telling us. In fact, you just might be saving her marriage. Where is she?”
* * *
“I still can’t believe she’s been right here the whole time,” Olivia said as she and her sisters climbed the stairs of their childhood home. “She was probably watching the party last night from her window. Alejandro and I were right down the hall from her.”
Olivia stopped in her tracks causing Rachel to nearly bump into her. “Oh my gosh. I hope she didn’t overhear Alejandro and me talking.”
“I don’t think so,” Zoe whispered. “I spoke to her last night and she didn’t say anything. And you know she would’ve had plenty to say if she’d heard you.”
“Good point,” Olivia whispered back. “Let’s—” She drew a finger over her throat in a gesture that meant silence and motioned for them to continue on to Sophie’s room.
The three sisters traveled quietly down the long hall. Sophie’s room was at the opposite end of the hall from Olivia’s. She was grateful because if her sister had overheard the conversation it would have made matters even worse. Now, regardless of how dangerous the Alejandro plan felt, it was her last recourse. It had to work, because she certainly didn’t have a plan B.
Nor did she have a plan for approaching her sister, she realized when they finally stood in front of Sophie’s bedroom door. Zoe and Rachel looked at Olivia, as if they were waiting for her to do something. So she did what she did best and took charge. She gestured to Zoe, indicating that she should knock on the door and be the one to speak to Sophie first.
At first, Zoe shook her head, but through a series of pantomimes Olivia was able to impart that it was only logical for Zoe to be the one to knock because she was the only one who knew Sophie was here. With a resigned shrug Zoe acquiesced and gave the door a tentative rap.
“Sophie?” she said. “Are you in there? It’s me, Zoe. I just wanted to check on you. See how you are.”
When she didn’t answer, Olivia tried the door. It was locked. Olivia motioned for Zoe to knock again. This time Zoe didn’t argue.
“Come on, Soph. Open up. Please? You can’t hide in here forever. Besides, it’s getting kind of difficult to explain your absence to the guests. You’re gonna have to make up your mind about what you want to do. You owe Mason that much.”
Olivia gave Zoe the signal to tone it down a little bit. She appreciated what her sister was trying to do, but she was still holding out hope that the soft touch might work.
As if reading Olivia’s mind, Zoe changed her tactic. “Besides, if you don’t open the door I’m not going to tell you the gossip. And it’s juicy. It involves Alejandro Mendoza. You’re definitely going to want to hear this.”
Sophie almost caught Olivia giving Zoe the thumbs-up. Because the tidbit about Alejandro seemed to be the magic words that made Sophie open the door for Zoe.
Of course, when she saw Rachel and Olivia standing there too, she tried to shut the door again, but the three of them were quicker than Sophie and managed to muscle their way in before she could lock them out.
Before Sophie could say anything, her sisters grabbed her in a four-way group hug as they cooed their concern and happiness about finally seeing her again.
“We were so worried about you,” Rachel said.
“How are you doing?” Olivia asked.
“Have you changed your mind about the wedding?” Zoe asked. “Are you getting married?”
All Sophie could say was “I don’t know. I don’t know what I believe anymore.”
Olivia noticed that Sophie didn’t utter one word of protest about Zoe’s sharing the secret of her whereabouts. That confirmed what Olivia had suspected—that Sophie had told Zoe because she knew Zoe wouldn’t be able to keep the secret.
Zoe was the loose lips, Rachel was the vault and Olivia was the problem solver.
“You said there was gossip?” Sophie asked. “About Alejandro Mendoza?”
Olivia felt relief—her sister seemed to be playing right into their hands. Good thing, too, because Olivia didn’t know how they would have steered her in that direction if she hadn’t brought it up herself.
Olivia said a silent prayer that Zoe would pick up on her cue and proceed in a way that didn’t look staged.
“Oh, that’s not important,” Olivia feigned. “We are here to talk to you, to see what we can do to make you feel better about everything.”
Olivia held her breath.
“The best thing you could do for me right now is to talk about something other than the wedding. Because if you keep badgering me about it, you can’t stay.” Sophie walked over to the door and put her hand on the knob as if she were demonstrating how she would show them out.
“Then you’re saying we can stay if we don’t talk about the wedding?” Rachel asked.
Sophie eyed her sisters as if she were weighing the pros and cons.
“Olivia and Alejandro hooked up last night.” Zoe spat the words so perfectly Olivia had to remind herself to look suitably offended. After all, if this had been a true hookup, she wouldn’t have wanted anyone—even her sisters—gossiping about it.
The ploy seemed to be working, because Sophie’s jaw dropped and her eyes were huge.
“Zoe,” Olivia admonished, “you promised you wouldn’t say anything.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Well, you two made such a spectacle of yourselves last night that if Sophie didn’t hear it from Zoe she would certainly hear about it from someone else.”
Olivia stood there silently, channeling her best humiliated/indignant expression.
“This is nobody’s business but mine and Alejandro’s,” Olivia said. “So just stop, okay?”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Sophie. Her eyes sparkled as she took the bait—hook, line and sinker. She grabbed Olivia’s arm and tugged her toward the couch by the window. “You are not leaving until you tell me everything.”
She looked at Zoe and Rachel. “This happened last night? At the welcome barbecue? And I missed it?”
Zoe and Rachel nodded, a little too enthusiastically.
“Yep. You missed it,” Zoe said. “If you would’ve been there last night you would’ve had a front-row seat.”
No. If she’d been there last night nothing would’ve happened. There would’ve been no need.
Olivia’s mind replayed last night’s kiss. The details were so vivid she could virtually feel Alejandro’s lips on hers. Never in her life had she been at odds with herself like she was over this. Every womanly cell in her body couldn’t wait for her to kiss him again, but every ounce of common sense in her brain reminded her to rein it in. Because if the plan worked like it seemed to be working, she was going to be kissing Alejandro a lot more. It was fine if she enjoyed it. In fact, it was probably for the best if she did since they’d be spending so much time together. However, it was in her own best interest to not get carried away.
“Olivia! Oh, my gosh,” Sophie squealed. “He’s gorgeous, and I knew he was interested in you because of the way he was looking at you Saturday night. Did I call it or what?” She looked at Zoe and Rachel. “I called it. Didn’t I call it?”
Sophie clapped her hands gleefully, looking like she’d just opened the front door and found the prize patrol of a sweepstakes holding a big check made out to her.
“You called it, Soph,” Rachel conceded.
Olivia crossed her arms and let her body fall back against the couch with a petulant harrumph.
Sophie angled herself toward Olivia. “Tell me everything. Start from the beginning and tell me every juicy detail. Come on, Liv. Spill it.”
Olivia looked down and shook her head. “I’m glad you all think this is entertaining, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Wait, what?” Rachel asked. “Alejandro is gorgeous and we would all like to live vicariously through you for just a few minutes. I mean, it was just a hookup. What’s the harm in sharing?”
Perfect.
Olivia took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip, doing her best to look sincerely offended.
“I’m not sure it was just a hookup,” she said. “So you all just hop off, okay?”
“Are you saying you care about him?” Zoe asked.
Olivia gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Yeah, I think I do.”
Sophie was watching, rapt. Olivia decided she needed to kick it up a level.
“I didn’t think it was possible. Really, I didn’t think it would ever happen to me. I thought I was immune.” She placed both of her hands over her heart. “But for the first time in my life, I think I’m in love. Truly, madly, deeply in love.” One at a time, she looked each of her sisters in the eye, ending with Sophie. That’s when she delivered the knockout punch. “I’m in love with Alejandro Mendoza and he feels the same way.”
Sophie sat there looking stunned. When she didn’t speak, Olivia feared that she’d been a little too melodramatic. Maybe the truly, madly, deeply bit was a little over-the-top. Ugh, it probably was. It was the title of her favorite Alan Rickman movie, and the name of that corny Savage Garden song, which had to be one of the sappiest love songs ever. Okay, so she’d secretly loved it ever since the time she and her sisters had gotten up and sang it at karaoke night at Señor Iguana’s.
The fib had come to her in a rush, but that might have been the reason Sophie was just sitting there staring at her. Olivia said a silent prayer hoping she hadn’t blown it.